


i'll take my heart clean apart (if it helps yours beat)

by somnnium



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Age Swap, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Cheesy babies in love, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Kissing, Language of Flowers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Romance, flufftober2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-21 00:39:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 3,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16148912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somnnium/pseuds/somnnium
Summary: A collection of ficlets for Flufftober 2018.





	1. Hug

**Author's Note:**

> This year I'll be doing Flufftober once again, an entire month dedicated to writing as much fluff as possible for Ash and Eiji (they deserve all of it and more). The full list of prompts can be found [here](https://imgur.com/LDJOVf7) and [here](https://twitter.com/mvkkun/status/1046537514280988673) – again, this is a list I made myself, so anyone is free to use it if they so desire.
> 
> The title comes from [this song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrDzd4ufypE), please go listen to it because it's the perfect Ash/Eiji song (´；ω；`)

Eiji feels himself wake in the middle of the night, sensing a warmth that wasn’t there before. He refuses to open his eyes (he’s pretty sure it must still be high hours of the night) and just basks in that newfound heat for a while – until he starts hearing something that he usually doesn’t hear and touching something that he usually doesn’t touch, at least not in his own bed.

He starts feeling around with his hands, eyes still stubbornly shut, and somehow finally notices there’s someone else in his bed with him. He doesn’t panic, not really – he’d recognize that soft hair, sweet scent, and soft snoring anywhere. A smile makes its way into his lips and Eiji can’t help but looking down and pulling Ash closer to himself, Ash who somehow managed to get into Eiji’s bed and wrap his arms around his middle and rest his head in his chest and fall asleep just like that, looking the most relaxed and satisfied Eiji had ever seen him these days.

Eiji buries his nose into Ash’s hair and breathes in deeply, recognizing the smell of the shampoo Ash usually uses and a soft aroma of mint mingled in it, whispering “The bed is too small to fit the both of us, you’re going to wake up tomorrow feeling more tired than rested”. Ash completely ignores him and snores louder, making himself comfortable in Eiji’s embrace. Eiji closes his eyes and settles, falling asleep faster than usual.

The next morning, both Eiji and Ash wake up with the worst back pain and Ash takes longer than usual taking his morning bath. During breakfast, he mumbles between bites of toast, a soft pink blush high on his cheeks, “Maybe we should get a bigger bed”.

Eiji smiles and kisses Ash on the cheek.


	2. Flowers

Flowers were never one of Ash’s areas of interest since they never wound up being of importance in his life – working and living in the city didn’t allow much for nature to enter his life, so he never really paid much attention to them. To Ash, flowers were things you gave people to congratulate them on birthdays and special occasions, things you left on graves in less happy moments and things that adorned tables and rooms when there was the need to make them more presentable. Other than that, flowers really didn’t have much weight in his daily life and he doubted they ever did.

So he doesn’t really understand how he ends up in front of this flower shop for the third day in a row, dressed in a suit, a flowerpot with some random orange flowers in hand and a strange feeling of embarrassment creeping up inside him whenever he looks at the cute shopkeeper behind the counter. The boy looks up and smiles when he sees Ash outside, just like he’s been doing for the past three days, and the blond keeps asking himself over and over again why the _hell_ he decided it’d be a good idea to buy flowerpots when he doesn’t even know how to take care of them.

Ash’s legs finally decide to obey him and he enters the shop, feeling his cheeks getting hotter the closer he gets to that damn counter and that damn cute flower boy (who has the deepest black eyes Ash has ever seen, mind you). He places the flowerpot on top of the counter and Eiji (that’s what his name tag says) looks up at him and, smiling, says, “Hello! So, this is what you’re going to buy, huh?”

Ash is not really paying much attention to what the black-haired cutie in front of him is saying because he’s too busy getting enthralled all by himself with the boy’s eyes, so he just says the first thing that comes to his mind and regrets it immediately.

“This is for you.”

Eiji’s smile falters just a little bit and Ash internally panics – this is it, he’s probably getting dumped even before he asks the guy on a date, just great. Eiji looks down and plays with the petals of that damn orange flower. “Did I do something I shouldn’t have?”

Ash tilts his head and hopes the message _no, you did nothing wrong, you’re perfect just like that_ gets across through his expression alone, but life doesn’t really work like that so he manages to say, “Uhm, no? Why do you say that?”

“Well, you’re giving me orange lilies, which in flower language mean _I hate you_ , so I thought maybe I’d done something wrong…”

Ash kind of wants to find the nearest hole and spend the rest of his life there. “I’m so sorry, I honestly I had no idea! I don’t really understand how flowers work, much less their individual meanings, I just got really interested in you and ended up buying the first thing I saw…”

Eiji’s eyes widen and a soft “oh” leaves his lips when Ash finally stops talking and silence fills the store. He leaves the counter and disappears into a space at the back Ash thinks might be a storage room, and when he doesn’t immediately come back the blond decides it might be a good time to go home and never speak to the cute flower boy again. When he’s actually about to lose the last piece of hope he still has, Eiji comes back with a bouquet of red flowers Ash actually recognizes. “These are for you.”

Ash takes the bouquet and asks, “These are carnations, right?”

Eiji smiles and Ash notices a soft blush adorning his face. “Yes, I want you to have them.”

“After that failure a while ago? You’re too kind. Dare I ask what these flowers mean?”

Eiji looks straight into his eyes and his smile softens. “Red carnations mean _I must see you soon_.”

Ash’s cheeks are definitely the color of the flowers in his arms at this point, but he doesn’t really mind – not everything went badly after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The meanings of the flowers mentioned come from [here](https://www.serenataflowers.com/pollennation/10-flowers-never-give-anyone/) and [here](http://zyanya.wikidot.com/the-language-of-flowers), but don't take them too seriously, there are many meanings to each individual flower and I just took what I needed so it fit my needs ;v;


	3. Distance

Eiji answers the call and Ash’s face appears on the screen almost instantly, dark circles under his eyes and a lazy smile that makes him seem a lot younger. There’re three cups of coffee in the desk behind him and another one in his hand and he’s wearing Eiji’s old track jacket.

“Another all nighter?”, Eiji says, a frown starting to form in his own face, “You know how bad coffee is for you, why do you leave everything for last minute?”

Ash rests his head in his right hand and sighs, the smile never leaving his lips. “I got busy with other things this week and the essay wouldn’t write itself. Don’t worry, I had your jacket to give me all the motivation I needed.” Ash winks and Eiji blushes, but he still looks tired so Eiji decides he won’t leave the issue alone just yet.

“Busy with _other things_? Anything I should be worried about? And why are you still using that old thing, I bet it doesn’t even keep you warm anymore, honestly.”

Ash brings the jacket close to his face and sniffs and Eiji is pretty sure the warmness on his face is definitely showing this time. “But it still smells like you, so it’s fine. And _no_ , you don’t have to worry, Mr. I’m-jealous-but-will-never-admit-it. I’ve been helping Shorter with his classes, that’s why it took me a while to finish this assignment, that’s all.” Ash giggles and Eiji’s heart does a strange little thing but he can’t be weak now, dammit.

“I’m not jealous, I was just worried you might be having people messing with you in the dorms, you’re not exactly the best neighbor.” Eiji rolls his eyes and Ash gasps too theatrically from the other side, already putting a hand above his chest.

“How rude, I’m the best neighbor these people will ever have! I’m not at fault if they don’t enjoy my music, I’m providing them with the best kind of content for free, they should be thankful.”

“Not at 3 am on a weekday, or so I heard.”

“Why do you have Shorter’s contact info anyway, is there anything _I_ should be worried about?” Ash gets closer to the screen and visibly _pouts_ , and Eiji can’t take it anymore – he just laughs wholeheartedly and can’t seem to stop, and, surely enough, Ash laughs too, because laughs are contagious and that’s just how the both of them work.

When they’ve both calmed down, cheeks red and eyes glistering, Eiji looks at the computer screen and sighs, admiring Ash’s image ten thousand kilometers and 13 hours away from him. “I miss you.”

Ash smiles and pulls the jacket closer to himself. “I miss you too, every day.”

“Two more weeks and I’ll be back… I love Tokyo but it’s hard when you leave your heart in New York, you know?”

Eiji can see Ash’s blush but doesn’t say anything. “Yeah, and you also left your sense of shame here, since when have you been this cheesy?”

“Oh shut up, you love me anyway.”

“Yeah, I do.”


	4. Letter

There’s an envelope under his door when he gets home and Ash is not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. When he opens it, there’s just a piece of paper written in nice-looking handwriting saying “Your cat jumped and fell on my balcony; don’t worry, she’s okay. She’s been fed and is now sleeping peacefully. I live on the second floor, just come over whenever you can.” The note was signed with the name _Okumura Eiji_.

Ash rubs his temples and sighs – why was Shadow always like this, he knew she liked to disappear from time to time but to actually sneak into someone else’s house to find food when she _clearly_ had all the food she wanted right here? He was going to give her the scolding of a lifetime, honestly.

When he gets to the second floor, it’s relatively easy to find this Eiji’s apartment – he has a little cat sticker decorating his front door on the outside and it’s the cutest thing. Even before Ash has the chance to wonder if his neighbor may also own a cat, he hears little mewls and door scratches from the inside and he knows immediately it’s his own cat’s doing.

When the door opens, Ash is definitely not expecting to see a disheveled man with black hair and a few scratches in his face and hands, but he’s even less expecting to see Shadow all snuggly in his arms, purring and butting heads affectionally with… another cat?

Putting a hand on his hip and pointing to Shadow with the other, Ash says, “Who are you and what have you done to my cat?” Both Eiji and Shadow visibly startle and Ash reminds himself that not everyone will understand his strange relationship with his cat, so he explains, “Sorry, I wasn’t referring to you, I was talking to my cat. She doesn’t usually get so comfortable with strangers so I’m just here wondering what this little walking nightmare saw in you. I’m betting it was either food or that other little one there.”

Ash points to the other kitty in the man’s arms and Eiji looks down and finally smiles – and Ash kind of wishes he hadn’t because now he can’t stop staring at the dimples in his cheeks and he seriously needs to take his cat home right _now_.

“Oh, you mean Buttercup? They actually warmed up to each other pretty fast, I’m impressed myself. Hi, I’m Eiji, nice to meet you—uh, I’d shake your hand but…”

Ash chuckles and looks Eiji in the eye – and _oh_ , he has dark eyes, just great. “It’s fine, I should really take Shadow home now, I have some scolding to do.” He tries to look annoyed when he looks at Shadow again, but she’s still snuggling with the other kitty and Ash really shouldn’t have such a soft spot for his cat, dammit.

Eiji notices his internal struggle and he’s the one snickering now. “I think we both know she’s not going to get scolded that harshly.” Ash sighs and Eiji opens his door a bit more. “Do you wanna come in? My sister brought some cakes yesterday, but I still haven’t had the chance to taste them. Care to join me?”

Ash really shouldn’t have so many soft spots for so many people, but Eiji is looking at him in a way that makes his heart kind of flutter and he just got home from work and hasn’t eaten since lunch, so why not? Maybe Shadow won’t actually get a scolding after all.


	5. Yearn

He knows he shouldn’t, but here he is anyway. He shouldn’t be skipping his own club activities to be watching the basketball team practicing, but Sing didn’t _expressly_ tell him not to do it and he somehow even encouraged Eiji (really, saying “He’s really hot and such a good player, we should go watch him one of these days” is not really helping his cause), so it’s not technically _wrong_ , right? It’s just one time anyway…

Except Eiji has been doing it at least twice a week for the last month and his club captain has already asked if there was something wrong with him and Eiji could only blush and brush him off, saying that he had “some business to attend to, I won’t quit, I promise”… Honestly, what was he doing anyway?

It’s not like Ash Lynx, captain of the basketball club, a third-year with his future already in motion through a sports scholarship for college, would ever look at him, a young track and field first-year, a scrawny baby who can barely reach the highest point while jumping over the bar. It’s not like the most handsome boy in their high school, all gorgeous blond hair and beautiful green eyes and an air of royalty around him would ever pay attention to Eiji, who has dark hair and dark eyes and can’t even speak properly to anyone who isn’t his best friend.

Eiji is (probably) in love but he’s tired of yearning and watching from afar and not being able to do much of anything besides hiding behind bleachers and sigh his life away. What’s the point of all this, anyway?

Just when he decides to turn around and go back to his own club room, a voice calls out from behind.

“Hey, you’re here again.”

Eiji startles and looks behind him and feels the need to rub his eyes because he’s not seeing Ash Lynx sitting right there, sweaty and with a towel around his neck, nope, it can’t be real.

Except it is, and Ash is actually there and he’s talking to him and _oh my god he should be paying attention_.

“You come here often, interested in joining us?”

Eiji’s mouth opens and closes and opens again but nothing comes out. Ash snickers and Eiji’s sure he’s blushing right now and Ash offers him his bottle of water. “It’s hot in here, huh? Take a sip, you should hydrate yourself.”

Eiji brings the bottle to his lips and drinks and only then does he actually look at Ash and notices how he’s following the movements of his mouth attentively. Eiji chokes on the water and Ash takes the bottle away from his hands and brings a finger up to his lips when Eiji’s calmed down, wiping some drops of water that remained on that spot.

“You should come watch us from the bleachers closer to the court, this way I can see you better and we could, you know, actually speak to each other. I need to go back to practice now or coach will kill me, but think about it, okay?” Ash winks and stands up to go, but not before turning around and saying “Oh, and I think your eyes are really beautiful, too.” He smiles shyly and turns around again and Eiji watches him go, mouth probably still open and eyes wide.

Eiji’s not sure if he should be embarrassed about Ash listening to him speaking to himself or overjoyed about Ash thinking his eyes are beautiful and basically inviting him to his practice games, but he’s pretty sure his brain stopped functioning and his heart will never stop beating this loudly.


	6. Happiness

Ash wakes up earlier than usual but doesn’t make any effort to actually get out of bed. Eiji is resting his head on his chest and pulled the covers up to his chin, so Ash can’t really move or he’ll wake Eiji up. Not that he really minds it, anyway.

Ash enjoys these lazy mornings, especially if Eiji is there with him. His daily life is stressful as it is, with his gang and his job and all the other things that come up one way or another, because ruling over a city is hard work and he can’t really catch a break all that often. Today is one of those rare days, when Eiji has no college work to catch up with and Ash doesn’t need to deal with any urgent matters and they can be all by themselves, reveling in each other’s warmth and making the most of their day.

He thinks about what might be coming next – maybe they’ll make breakfast together, or maybe Ash will surprise Eiji with breakfast in bed. Maybe Eiji will smile at him, that lovely smile of his that only appears in the mornings when he’s well-rested and not quite ready to leave the comfort of their bed yet. Maybe he’ll reward Ash with a morning kiss – not on the lips, but anywhere else because Eiji is weird with his breath in the morning.

(Ash doesn’t really mind it either way, because he loves all of Eiji, regardless of his morning breath).

Maybe Eiji will want to stay in bed through the rest of the morning, napping a bit more and telling Ash about his week and catching up with their make out sessions. Maybe he’ll want to go outside and have a morning jog. Maybe he’ll want to do something completely different.

It doesn’t really matter.

Right now, Eiji is asleep on top of Ash and the world outside is quiet, their own little world encapsulated in this small bedroom the only thing that actually matters.

For Ash, this is happiness.

Happiness is being beside Eiji – always, forever.


	7. Difference

Ash’s eyes are not always the same color. Ash thinks Eiji is just seeing things (“you’re probably just tired”, he had said), but Eiji is certain his eyes have different shades on different occasions.

Ash’s green eyes are the clearest in the morning when he’s just woken up and is still a bit dazed with sleep – almost an aquamarine hue, reminding Eiji of the color of the ocean that welcomed him the first time he stepped foot in America. Other times, when Ash senses danger or becomes alert, they become a very vivid and pale kind of green, like the eyes of a hunting cat that can never take even a minute of rest, or his life would be at risk.

Whenever Ash is with friends and people he knows he can trust, his eyes become this smoky dark green, telling everyone who can understand _I’m happy you’re with me, thank you_ , like a silent, deep forest during the twilight. This color brings a smile to Eiji’s lips and a soft warmth to his chest that he could never even begin to explain – just knowing that Ash can still have these small moments in his life give Eiji the will to eternalize them in almost all the photos he takes.

(His favorite is still a group photo he took while the gang was celebrating Ash’s birthday, where everyone is laughing and Ash’s cheeks are a bit pink and it feels like time stops for just a few instants).

Eiji’s absolute color of preference is the one that appears only when Ash is looking at him – whenever Eiji makes him breakfast and Ash gives him a grateful look; when they hold hands in the middle of the street and Ash throws him a shy glance; right after a kiss that takes longer than usual; or just when one of them (or both at the same time) say _I love you_. It’s a very dark, luminous green, that has always reminded Eiji of two beautiful emeralds, two treasures that belong to Eiji and Eiji alone.

Ash may not believe him, but Eiji doesn’t really mind it – he’ll always love his eyes just the way they are, because they’re a part of Ash that gives Eiji a way to his heart and they’re always so, so earnest.


	8. Hair

“I’m not doing this, nope.”

Ash picks up the bowl from the countertop and mixes the hair dye again for good measure. “Oh, come on Eiji, don’t be a chicken now. A bet is a bet and you lost, my dear.” He hands Eiji the bowl, who holds it high enough for Ash to be able to wrap a towel around him, leaving a kiss on top of his head when he finishes.

Embarrassed, Eiji huffs. “I only lost because Shorter helped you with the recipe, this is so unfair.”

Ash finishes putting on the latex gloves and laughs, looking at Eiji through the mirror in front of them. “No, you lost because Sing sucks at cooking and only made things worse, who thought two people who were _cheating_ could still mess up a perfectly easy recipe of chocolate brownies. Shame on you, Eiji.”

Eiji crosses his arms and tries not to laugh, failing miserably. “He looked so confident, I couldn’t not let him help.”

“Eiji, we bet on who could make the best brownies all by themselves, you weren’t even supposed to let him help.” Ash runs his fingers through Eiji’s hair, pulling it all backward.

“We were _both_ cheating anyway, so I guess the bet is still valid… Ugh, this is going to be so embarrassing.”

Ash grabs the spatula and grins at the mirror. “Well, you’ll only have pink hair for like a week, be grateful I chose a temporary hair dye.”

Hiding his face behind his hands, Eiji grumbles. “I’m never drinking again in my life.”

Ash chuckles again, _louder_ , and starts to work.


End file.
